Souare is expected to start against Huddersfield Town at Selhurst Park in the Carabao Cup to complete an amazing recovery for a player who feels lucky to be alive.

"The injury might have seen a few players off," said Pardew, who was the Palace manager at the time of the crash. “But it was not going to see Pape off.

“He has shown incredible bravery to fight his way back. Our immediate concern was that he was alive and well, when you saw how serious the accident was and the state of the car.

“But I remember the first time I saw him in hospital, although he was really down at that time, I could see he was determined to come back. It is wonderful to see him back.

“The beauty of Pape is that he has got a permanent smile. He is always smiling about something. Even through the broken jaw he smiled as best he could. The type of injury he had is not really an injury that footballers get. The thigh bone is a very unusual bone to break so he was in uncharted territory.

“For him to play a first-team game he has done brilliantly, because there was a doubt whether he would get back to that level.

“And we love him. He is such a character who is really well liked at the club."